Drainable container base

ABSTRACT

A base for a container is disclosed which prevents the collection of liquids in the base when the container is stored or washed in an upside down position. The preferred embodiment disclosed consists of a central section having a series of radially extending crests and troughs connected by surfaces inclined toward the troughs and a raised rim surrounding the central section which has a series of depreseions corresponding to the outer ends of the troughs.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a container having a base which will drainliquids poured or dropped on the base when the container is in an upsidedown position.

Typical, large round bottles or liquid containers, such as those usedfor water coolers or to store chemicals, have a base which consists of aconcave center surrounded by a raised rim which provides the restingarea which contact the surface on which the bottle rests when it is inits upright position. This type of base has been used for many yearsbecause its shape provides one of the most convenient ways of providingstrength to the bottom of the bottle.

When these types of bottles are returned for reuse, they must be washedto remove any contaminants before they can be refilled. For largebottles, such as those used in water coolers, this typically involves awashing with a caustic solution while the bottle is held upside down inorder to promote drainage of the caustic from the interior of thebottle. However, because the bottle is upside down, caustic collects inthe concave center of the base. Since the caustic solution is normallycollected and reused, this results in increased caustic consumption andwashing costs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The bottle or container of this invention has a base which drains,rather than retains, liquids when the bottle is in an upside downposition. When viewed from this inverted or upside down position, thebase has a raised outer rim which provides a generally flat bottomsurface for resting the container on a floor or other surface. Theraised outer rim has a series of depressions or low points which permitliquids to drain past the rim when the bottle is upside down. The basealso has a central section which is surrounded by the rim. The centralsection of the base has a raised center or a series of high points whichare above the level of the depressions in the rim but which extend nohigher than the level of the rim itself. The lowest points of thecentral section occur along the outer edge and are located adjacent tothe rim depressions to permit the liquid to readily drain from thecenter of the base. Essentially all of the intermediate points orsurfaces of the central section are sloped or inclined to prevent theaccumulation of liquid when the bottle is inverted and are arranged todirect the liquid toward the depressions in the rim. This structuralarrangement permits easy drainage of the wash liquid from the base whenthe bottle is washed in an upside down position.

In a preferred embodiment of this invention, the central section of thebase is provided with a series of generally flat, triangular shaped,inclined surfaces which form a series alternating, radially extendingcrests and inclined troughs. The intersection of the radially extendingcrests form a raised center for the base and the crests function asreinforcing ribs which provide added strength. The outermost ends of thetroughs correspond to the low points of the central section of the baseand are positioned for flow communication with the depressions in therim. The inclined surfaces are connected to the inner edge of the rim bya series of shoulders which extend from the rim.

In another preferred embodiment, the inclined surfaces are connected tothe inner edge of the rim by a series of shoulders which extend from therim.

In another preferred embodiment, the inclined surfaces between theradially extending crests function as a single smooth sloped surfacewhich is generally inclined toward and has its lowest point immediatelyadjacent the inner end of the rim depression.

Additional features and advantages of this invention are described in,and will appear from the description of the preferred embodiments whichfollow and the drawings to which reference is now made.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a large, round bottle incorporating apreferred embodiment of the drainable base of this invention. This viewhas a portion of the bottle broken away and phantom lines added tobetter illustrate the features of the drainable base.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the bottle of FIG. 1 in an invertedposition.

FIG. 3 is a bottom elevation view of the bottle of FIG. 1 illustratingthe various surfaces which comprise the drainable base of thisinvention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view, slightly vertically enlarged, taken alongthe curved line 4--4 in FIG. 3 illustrating the variation in elevationof the various surfaces which comprise the central section of thedrainable base.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view, slightly vertically enlarged, taken alongline 5--5 in FIG. 3 illustrating the shape of the base between twoopposite rim depressions along two troughs and the center.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view, slightly vertically enlarged, taken alongline 6--6 in FIG. 3 illustrating the shape of the base along the crests.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

While the drainable base of this invention may be adapted to containersand bottles having various shapes and sizes, FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate aparticularly preferred embodiment, a large, round bottle 2 which has aliquid capacity of approximately 5 gallons and is used in conventionalwater coolers. This bottle 2 has a long, large diameter side wall 4, arelatively narrow neck 6 and a drainable base 8. This bottle 2 ispreferrably molded from strong thermoplastics such as polycarbonates andthe like.

The drainable base 8 is best viewed when the bottle is in its invertedor upside down position as in FIGS. 2 and 3. The base 8 generallycomprises a central section 10 surrounded by a circular rim 12 which isintegral with the lower end 14 of side wall 4 of the bottle.

Rim 12 has four raised, generally flat bottomed, arcuately extending rimsections 16, 18, 20, 22 which provide the resting area which comes intocontact with the floor or other surface when the bottle is in its normalupright position. Rim sections 16, 18, 20, 22 are separated from oneanother by a series of four depressions or gaps 24, 26, 28, 30 which areprovided in rim 12 to permit the washing solution and other liquids todrain from the central section 10 of base 8 when the bottle is in itsinverted position. As illustrated with depression 26, the gaps in therim have a center surface 26a and two side walls 26b, 26c which ineffect form a channel for the flow of liquid from central section 10.The center surface 26a has a slight curvature (see FIG. 5) so that theouter end of surface 26a which is integral with side wall 14 is lowerthan the inner end which is adjacent central section 10.

The central section 10 of base 8 consists of a series of alternating,radially extending ridges or crests 48, 50, 52, 54 and inclined troughs56, 58, 60, 62 and a series of inclined surfaces 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42,44, 46, the edges of which form the crests 48, 50, 52, 54 and feedliquid to the troughs 56, 58, 60, 62 for drainage when the bottle is inthe inverted position.

The radially extending crests 48, 50, 52, 54 intersect at the center 64of both central section 10 and base 8. These crests act as reinforcingribs which provide added strength to the base and permit the abandonmentof the concave central section generally used heretofore. Asillustrated, crests 48, 50, 52, 54 all have essentially the sameelevation along their entire length (see FIG. 6). Alternatively, one ormore of crests 48, 50, 52, 54 can vary in elevation along its length sothat the crests are somewhat higher at a given point than they are atothers. Preferably, the high point of each crest occurs where theyintersect at center 64 or at the other end where they are connected torim 12. In any event, no point along crests 48, 50, 52, 54 should extendbeyond the raised rim sections 16, 18, 20, 22 or be so low that a lowpoint is created which will not drain into troughs 56, 58, 60, 62 viathe inclined surfaces.

The troughs 56, 58, 60, 62 are generally triangular shaped surfaceswhich are alligned with and sloped toward the inner edge of depressions24, 26, 28, 30 in rim 12 (see FIGS. 4 and 5). The troughs are also inflow communication with the depressions in the rim and together theyform a continuous channel for the drainage of liquids deposited on thebase when the bottle is in its inverted position. The sides of troughs56, 58, 60, 62 are defined by the sides of a pair of the cooperativelysloped inclined surfaces 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46. In order toavoid the collection of liquids in the center of the base, center 64,which is formed by the intersection of crests 48, 50, 52, 54, must havea higher elevation (when the base is viewed in its inverted position)than any portion of troughs 56, 58, 60, 62 or depressions 24, 26, 28,30.

Each inclined surface 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46 is also generallyin the shape of a triangle. As illustrated with inclined surface 42, oneleg of the triangle, AB, between corners A and B, forms part of crest 52and, as illustrated, has approximately the same elevation along itsentire length. Another leg, AC, forms one side of trough 60. Corner C ofthis triangle, located adjacent to the inner edge of depression 28 inrim 12, is positioned at a lower elevation than corners A and B and ispreferably the lowest point on the inclined surface. This causes theplane of the inclined surface 42 to be directed relatively downwardtoward trough 60 and outward toward depression 28. This downward andoutward inclination of the inclined surface assists in the drainage ofliquids in the central section. Alternatively, as mentioned above, theelevation along leg AB may vary so that a high point exists somewherealong the leg. This is permissable so long as the inclination of theinclined surface remains generally downward and outward toward trough 60and depression 28 in rim 12 and no liquid collection point is createdalong the crest or on the inclined surface. The inclined surfaces 32,34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46 and central section 10 are connected to therim sections 16, 18, 20, 22 via shoulders, such as 36a and 38a, whichextend down from the rim sections.

When a bottle having the drainable base illustrated in the drawings anddescribed above is inverted and liquid is poured or dropped on the base,all the liquid is directed by the crests and inclined surfaces towardthe outwardly sloped troughs and out the depressions in the rim as isillustrated by the arrows in FIG. 3. When the crests are approximatelythe same elevation along their entire radial extent and the corner ofthe inclined surfaces nearest the openings are the lowest point on thesurfaces, most of the liquid will tend to flow over the central andouter portions of the inclined surfaces and enter the troughs near thedepressions.

Alternatively, if the outer ends of the crests, at the B corners of theinclined surfaces, are higher than the inner end, at center 64 and the Acorners of the inclined surfaces, more of the liquid will tend to flowtoward the center and through a greater length of the troughs.

In an alternative embodiment of the drainable base, the entire portionof the central section between the crests, i.e., a single trough and thepair of cooperatively sloped inclined surfaces adjacent the trough,maybe formed into a single continuous draining surface which has no distanttrough, but which is inclined and sloped away from its high points alongthe crests and at the center toward its lowest point which is located atthe inner end of the rim depression associated with it.

The preferred embodiments illustrated and described herein are intendedto be exemplary of the types of drainable container bases which fallwithin the scope of the invention. However, one skilled in the art wouldcertainly be expected to be able to make modifications and variations ofthese preferred embodiments without departing from the spirit and scopeof the invention as defined in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A bottle having a drainable base, comprising:abody having a round side wall; a neck having an opening therein; and abase, integral with the lower edge of the side wall, the base having acentral section, a rim section surrounding the central section, and aseries of shoulders along the inner edge of the rim section to connectthe rim section to the center section; the central section having two ormore radially extending raised ribs and an equal number of radiallyextending sloped throughs, each rib and trough being separated by agenerally triangular shaped, planar, inclined surface which directs anyliquid deposited on the base when the bottle is inverted toward atrough; the rim section having generally flat raised portions extendinghigher than the ribs, and a number of depressions, each of which isformed by an outwardly and downwardly slanted center and by generallyplanar side walls disposed between the center and the rim's raisedportions and is adjacent to and in flow communication with the outer endof one of the sloped troughs, to permit liquid collected in the troughswhen the bottle is inverted to flow past the rim section and drain fromthe base; the shoulders being disposed between the rim's raised portionsand the center's planar inclined surfaces.
 2. The base of claim 1,wherein the troughs and the depressions are located approximatelyequidistant between two adjacent raised ribs.
 3. The base of claim 1,wherein there are four ribs, four raised rim portions, four depressionsand eight inclined surfaces.
 4. A bottle having a drainable base,comprising;a body having a generally round side wall; a neck having anopening therein; and a base, integral with the lower edge of the sidewall, the base having a central section, a rim section surrounding thecentral section, and a series of shoulders along the inner edge of therim section to connect the rim section to the central section; thecentral section having two or more radially extending raised ribs and agenerally smooth surface, composed of one or more generally planarsurfaces, between each adjacent pair of ribs, sloped generally downwardand outward toward a single low point along the outer edge of thecentral section; the rim section having generally flat raised rimportions and a number of depressions, each depression being formed by anoutwardly and downwardly sloped center and by generally planar sidewalls disposed between the center and the rim's raised portions, eachdepression corresponding to one of the low points of the central sectionand in flow communication with the low point to permit ready drainage ofliquid from the central section when the bottle is inverted.
 5. The baseof claim 6, wherein their are four raised ribs, four generally smoothsurfaces, four depressions and four raised rim portions.
 6. A drainablebase for a round bottle, comprising:a central section having a series oftriangularly shaped, generally planar slanted surfaces disposed aboutthe center of the base, which form a series of alternating radiallyextending crests and outwardly and downwardly inclined troughs; a rimsurrounding the central section and connected to the lower edge of theside wall of the bottle, the rim having generally flat, raised pads forresting the bottle on a surface, and a depression in the rim adjacent tothe outer end of each trough; and a series of shoulders along the inneredge of the pads between the pads and the central section's slantedsurfaces.
 7. The base of claim 6, wherein each depression is formed byan outwardly and downwardly slanted center and by generally planar sidewalls disposed between the center and the raised pads.
 8. The base ofclaim 6, wherein there are eight slanted planar surfaces forming fourcrests and four troughs.